Sense and Sensibility: A Lenten Exploration
By Sam Portaro
()
About this ebook
Daily Lenten reflections with a novel approach.
Lent is often a season given to denial of physical pleasure and sensation, but we're already denied these by a cultural atmosphere saturated with visual images, noise and air pollution, violence, and processed foods that dull the senses. The physical senses play an integral role in the human capacity for emotion and feeling. Overstimulation in the physical senses gradually erodes one’s ability to feel emotion. Yet empathy—emotional identification and connection with others—is crucial to liturgical engagement, especially in the highly dramatic practices of the signal events of the Christian Year.
Sam Portaro proposes to restore our ability to participate emotionally in the Lenten journey by revisiting the five physical senses—one per week—in Lent. The discipline of a 40-day preparation for Easter suggests the importance the Church places on this seasonal retelling of the central acts of Christian redemption. Sense and Sensibility encourages the reader to renew a relationship with the physical senses that is a prerequisite to a deeply attuned engagement with the biblical stories read, taught, and liturgically re-enacted in the rites of Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter.
Sam Portaro
Sam Portaro, formerly Episcopal Chaplain to the University of Chicago and Director of Brent House, has had a long and rich career in campus ministry mentoring students and young adults. He lives near Chicago, Illinois.
Related to Sense and Sensibility
Related ebooks
In Season: Homilies Through the Liturgical Year Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Business as Usual: Sermons for the Lectionary, Year A, Pentecost through Christ the King Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApprentices and Eyewitnesses: Creative Liturgies for Incarnational Worship: Lent, Holy Week and Easter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Week That Changed the World: Daily Reflections for Holy Week Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPauses for Pentecost: 50 Words for Easter People Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Fresh Look at the Mass: A Helpful Guide to Better Understand and Celebrate the Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFeasts for the Kingdom: Sermons for the Liturgical Year Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDreamers and Stargazers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPauses for Advent: Words of Wonder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlue Christmas: Devotions of Light in a Season of Darkness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSimplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Passionate Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Living Nativity: Preparing for Christmas with Saint Francis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaithful Celebrations: Making Time for God with the Saints Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYou Have the Words of Eternal Life: Reflections on the weekday readings for the liturgical year 2020/2021 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaithful Celebrations: Making Time for God from Advent through Epiphany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSunday Readings in Context: Year B - Trinity to Christ the King Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJust in Time! Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Services Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaithful Celebrations: Making time for God from Mardi Gras through Pentecost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reflections for Lent 2020: 26 February - 11 April 2020 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStations of the Nativity, Cross and Resurrection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Way of Living: A Worship, Prayer and Liturgy Resource for the Lindisfarne Community Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSongs of the Spirit: A Psalm A Day For Lent And Easter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCommon Worship: Collects and Post Communions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiving into Lent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChrist in the Wilderness: Reflecting on the paintings by Stanley Spencer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Dulci Jubilo: Poems and Prayers for Christmas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOpenings (2nd Edition): A Daybook of Saints, Sages, Psalms and Prayer Practices Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlternative Pastoral Prayers: Liturgies and Blessings for Health and Healing, Beginnings and Endings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReflections for Daily Prayer Advent 2019 to Eve of Advent 2020 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Holidays For You
Living a Jewish Life, Revised and Updated: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/550 Beautiful Christmas Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJesus Calling Book Club Discussion Guide for Women Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Honest Advent: Awakening to the Wonder of God-with-Us Then, Here, and Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Preparing for Easter: Fifty Devotional Readings from C. S. Lewis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/540 Days of Jesus Always: Joy in His Presence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the manger: 25 Inspirational Selections for Advent Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fight Like Jesus: How Jesus Waged Peace Throughout Holy Week Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Come, Let Us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Resurrection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Devotional for Progressive Christians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJesus Calling for Moms, with Full Scriptures: Devotions for Strength, Comfort, and Encouragement Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFor This We Left Egypt?: A Passover Haggadah for Jews and Those Who Love Them Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadow and Light: A Journey into Advent Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Twelfth Night Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Forty Days to a Closer Walk with God: The Practice of Centering Prayer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus Lives: Seeing His Love in Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christmas Carols For Guitar: Graded arrangements of 12 favourite Christmas songs for acoustic, fingerstyle and classical guitar Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJesus Calling for Christmas, with Full Scriptures: Seasonal Devotions for Christmas Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unwrapping the Names of Jesus: An Advent Devotional Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/540 Days With Jesus: Celebrating His Presence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The True Saint Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem To The Resurrection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Light of the World: A Beginner's Guide to Advent Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Sense and Sensibility
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Sense and Sensibility - Sam Portaro
Sense and Sensibility
Sense and
Sensibility
A Lenten Exploration
SAM PORTARO
img1Copyright © 2018 by Sam Portaro
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Page 4 (puddle jumping): photo by Jeff Portaro, used by permission; page 34 (Trompe l’oeil): photo by Sam Portaro, mural by Richard Haas, used by permission; page 54 (swinging thurible): photo by Br. Michael Francis (Scott Smith), used by permission of churchartphotography.com; page 74 (Maddie Agnes & Otis Campbell-Lucas): photo by Steward Lucas and Doug Campbell, used by permission; all other photos by Sam Portaro.
Church Publishing
19 East 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
www.churchpublishing.org
Cover design by Jennifer Kopec, 2Pug Design
Typeset by PerfecType, Nashville, Tennessee
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Portaro, Sam Anthony, author.
Title: Sense and sensibility : a Lenten exploration / Sam Portaro.
Description: New York, NY : Church Publishing, [2018]
Identifiers: LCCN 2018030845 (print) | LCCN 2018035949 (ebook) | ISBN 9781640651289 (ebook) | ISBN 9781640651272 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Lent--Meditations. | Senses and sensation--Religious aspects--Christianity--Meditations.
Classification: LCC BV88 (ebook) | LCC BV88 .P67 2018 (print) | DDC 242/.34--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018030845
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
Introduction
Ash Wednesday and the Days Following
Lent 1: Touch
Lent 2: Sight
Lent 3: Smell
Lent 4: Sound
Lent 5: Taste
Holy Week
INTRODUCTION
Lent is often a season given to denial of physical pleasure and sensation. Yet a cultural atmosphere saturated with visual images, noise and air pollution, violence, and processed foods has dulled the senses.
Physical sensation plays an integral role in the human capacity for emotion and feeling. Overstimulation of the senses gradually erodes one’s ability to feel emotionally. Empathy—emotional identification and connection with others—is crucial to liturgical engagement, especially in the highly dramatic practices of the signal events of the Christian Year.
The discipline of a forty-day preparation for Easter suggests the importance that the Church places on this seasonal retelling of the central acts of Christian redemption. A renewed relationship with our physical senses is prerequisite to a sensibility deeply attuned to engagement with the biblical stories read, taught, and liturgically reenacted in the rites of Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter.
These pages revisit the five physical senses—one per week—in Lent. An introductory essay on Ash Wednesday, and reflections on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday thereafter, address the role of the senses in the experience and expression of human compassion, the essential component for engaging and participating in the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter. These liturgies invite us to enter and engage the scriptural stories that form the central tenets of Christian faith in one’s heart, soul, and life.
The following information may be especially helpful to those responsible for teaching and preaching, especially at weekday services throughout the Lenten season, and to individuals who choose to use this series for personal enrichment.
Essay reflections on each of the Sundays in Lent take up one of the five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. While no attempt has been made to link the Sunday entries to the Sunday eucharistic lectionary (RCL), the creative homilist may find resources here. However, the intent of the Sunday reflections is to prepare for the week ahead.
Daily reflections are frequently framed by either a portion from the collect for the day, and/or one or more of the readings appointed for the Weekdays in Lent
as found in Weekday Eucharistic Propers (New York: Church Publishing, 2017, pp. 12ff.) and in most editions of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. While it is not necessary to follow the lectionary, the practice is recommended and may be especially helpful in crafting homilies.
Palm Sunday begins Holy Week and the reflection for that day is a prologue to engagement with the events that follow in the liturgical drama. Reflections on the days thereafter, including Easter, focus on the Passion narrative, referencing the physical senses when appropriate, but turning the attention, as is proper, to the biblical story at the heart of this season.
img1ASH WEDNESDAY
AND THE DAYS
FOLLOWING
img1[Y]ou are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.
(Holy Baptism, The Book of Common Prayer,
page 308)
ASH
WEDNESDAY
When the sign of the cross